Bill will hurt disabled veterans

Thursday

Mar 13, 2014 at 2:00 AM

To the Editor:

To the Editor:

The Senate is considering the Veterans Omnibus Bill. Right now, the only veterans who are authorized care are those who have been rated as "disabled" by Veterans Affair or are considered "indigent" and are also not eligible for Medicaid/Medicare. This bill would expand eligibility for care to all veterans. One would think that, being a veteran myself, I would be glad to have care expanded for all veterans. While it sounds good in theory, it would seriously interfere with the treatment of currently eligible veterans

The current system cannot even fulfill its current mission to care for disabled veterans. The current backlog of eligibility determinations for benefits alone leaves thousands of veterans waiting years for their final rating decisions. Then they can still wait months/years to get the care they need. The veterans who need the most care will effectively lose access to that care and an already overstressed system will collapse under the increased burden.

Do not let anything I say here lead you to believe that I think that there are veterans who do not deserve all of the benefits that they have earned. However, the system was set up to take care of the needs of disabled veterans because their disabilities cause them to have higher healthcare costs and unique healthcare needs. I encourage everyone to call your Senators at (202) 224-3121 and tell them they need to fix the Veterans Affair Healthcare System before they propose further overloading it.

Edward Richardson

Berwick

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